Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, etc...

On this CD:

1. 1812 -- Festival Overture, for orchestra in E flat major, Op. 49
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Conducted by Bystrik Rezucha

2. Piano Concerto No. 1, for piano & orchestra (or 2 pianos) in B flat minor, Op. 23
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Performed by Peter Toperczer
Conducted by Bystrik Rezucha

3. Romeo and Juliet, fantasy-overture for orchestra in B minor (3 versions) Fantasy Overture
Composed by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Conducted by Laurence Gordon Siegel

Customer Reviews:

Good sound, not so good music on 1812........2007-07-05

I compared this 1812 to my old Philadelphia/Ormandy CD from Sony Essential Classics. Ormandy's opening with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (using organ where Kunzel uses the woodwinds) is much more dramatic and musical then Kunzel's rushed opening, and the Mormons sing the pants off the Kiev choir. It may be unfair to compare the Cincinnati Pops with the Philadelphians who play really wonderfully on this. Kunzel's canons out-blow Ormandy's, but he brings in the Vally Forge Military Academy Band at the end to make up for weaker canon. Ormandy wins this battle!

1812 overture / Cincinnati Pops.......2007-01-18

One of the finest renditions of one of my favorite musical pieces. It brings tears to your eyes.

Nice music.......2007-01-07

This is not the type of music I normally listen to, but on my SACD system it does sound nice. Worth the money. This would get 5 stars from me if I were a fan of classical music. If this is not your genre either, and want something that sounds nice, I recommend you go with Beck's Sea Change SACD over this.

Not sure why people are complaining about the cannons. If you have a good system made for high end audio, with nice speakers for music all around, you should be fine. If your speakers were made for watching movies, then you may have a problem. I have not listened to this on a regular cd player yet, but I could see how a regular cd with basic speakers may have a problem as well.

My system:
Dennon 2910 player
Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver
JBL Northridge speakers (the largest ones in the series: i.e. double 10" fronts, 12" sub, surround speakers that are serious shelf speakers, etc).

Sounding quite nice.......2006-04-30

I tried different styles of play with the direct streaming recording of this SACD. What I discovered is that this format (DSD) allowed all 7 speakers to produce a plesant sound. Using the THX Music mode of my reciever.
Other SACD's that I have played on it allowed only the SACD EX (expanded) mode to work. The thundering of the cannons wasn't all that loud. I have listened to a few versions of 1812, this isn't the best that I have heard. With the special recording method, it did sound the most pleasing though.

Equipment used: Pioneer 59txi, Denon 3910 using s-400 link.

Sub: earthquake 12" 600 watt.

One of the best SACDs I own!.......2005-03-03

I was a little worried about this SACD, because I'd read user reviews that said the canons were mixed far too loud, forcing you to either miss the orchestra or else bleed from the ears when the canons go off during the finale. Nothing could be further from the truth on my system. The orchestra is at a suitable level, and is wonderfully detailed. I own quite a few SACDs, but I was still suprised by the quality of this recording, especially of the 1812 Overture itself. If you close your eyes it feels like you are there live!

For reference, I have a very good reciever and a Klipsch RF-35 based surround system; I don't know how this sounds on other setups, but it is fantastic on mine.

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Romeo & Juliet, etc...

Average customer rating:

Mr. Dorati, you are no Bernstein!
Good Value on the 1812 and a Very Good Romeo

Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Romeo & Juliet, etc...

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

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Dvorák, Tchaikovsky, Borodin: Quartets

ASIN: B0000041SS
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1812 Overture (Featuring The Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, The Bells Of The National Cathedral, Washington, DC, An American Civil War Cannon)
Capriccio italien
Romeo and Juliet
Marche slave

Customer Reviews:

Mr. Dorati, you are no Bernstein!.......2006-09-30

This is some of my favorite of all classical music. It has teeth, it has power, it is filled with emotion. Conducted and performed correctly it will make your blood run swiftly and at the same time, it will bring tears to your eyes! However, Tchaikovsky publicly stated that he didn't feel anyone would really enjoy the 1812 Overture and the Marche Slave because he filled these works with all his hatred for the French after the defeat of Napoleon's army in the War of 1812. He couldn't have been more wrong. Today, these two pieces are some of the most popular and celebrated pieces of music ever written! And rightfully so. Indeed, the 1812 Overture, for example, represents the epitome of the classical masterpiece.

Now, this must be made clear: Antal Dorati has done an absolutely horrific job of recreating this rich, bold and powerful music. The lion has been captured and reduced in nature to the common house cat. Mr. Dorati has somehow pulled the teeth of the beast, nay, neutered it, in fact, and left it laying helplessly, whimpering in the corner of its dark, damp, dirty little cage. The familiar listener will feel robbed at the absence of emotion, cheated by the seemingly paint-by-the-numbers, academic approach with which Mr. Dorati presents some of Tchaikovsky's greatest work. In fact, I would greatly underestimate the matter by saying that Mr. Dorati's effort is sophomoric at best. The honorable members of the Detroit Symphony must have wept in despair when they heard how they had taken part in shaving the mane of this magnificent lion!

The tempo is slow. The canon explosions all sound the same and are precisely on tempo, even though they weren't written that way. The sharp edges are rounded and the music is soft. This music is akin to Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' orchestrated and softly playing over the loudspeaker in a bank building elevator.

But fear not, my fiends! In order to experience the grandeur of the untamed lion, the glory and the spirit and the true power of the music into which Tchaikovsky poured his very soul, one should seek Tchaikovsky as performed by The New York Symphony and conducted by, who else? The masterful, Mr. Leonard Bernstein.

Good Value on the 1812 and a Very Good Romeo.......2001-03-19

When Dorati signed on to become Detroit's newest musical director in 1978, he promised to get the symphony recording again. Straightaway he brought in London/Decca to lay down some initial tracks. The engineers discovered a decaying old movie theater downtown (the so-called "United Artists Auditorium") that had excellent acoustics for recording. Good businessman that he always was, Dorati figured he could repeat the success he had with Mercury many years ago by re-recording the "1812." They pulled out all the stops, complete with recording a brand-new reproduction of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the bells of Washington, DC's National Cathedral, and genuine Civil War cannon, all superimposed later in the editing process. The end result was another sonic blockbuster, of course, although it never sold as many copies as Dorati or the DSO wished. Here it is now, along with the accompanying fillers of "Capriccio Italien" and "Marche Slave" that were on the original LP, all on an attractively priced budget CD with great remastered end-of-analog era sound. Dorati's interpretations of the scores are as good as ever, but there are, sad to say, a few measures where the DSO sounds a bit ragged. Still, it's a good value.

Tracks:

1812 Ov Op.49: With Bells And Canons - Slovak Nat PO/Bystrik Rezucha
Pno Con No.1 in b flat, Op.23: Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso-Allegro Con Spirito
Pno Con No.1 in b flat, Op.23: Andantino Semplice
Pno Con No.1 in b flat, Op.23: Allegro Con Fuoco
Romeo And Juliet: Fant Ov - POL/Lawrence Siegel

Music Track:

Music Track

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